Capital Punishment in Classical Athens

This paper attempts to describe the working of capital punishment within the frame of the Athenian legal system, taking into account the latter’s peculiarities and idiosyncracies. In the first place, it approaches the problem of the so-called procedural orientation of Athenian law, arguing that no definite list of capital offences in classical Athens can be compiled. Secondly, it considers the question of how death penalty was imposed in classical Athens and what were its viable substitutes. Finally, it looks at the different ways of its execution, with particular attention given to hemlock poisoning and bloodless crucifixion (apotympanismos)

Eurypides' "Ion" : the contemporary and the past

Artykuł jest próbą odczytania tragedii Eurypidesa Ion jako zderzenia heroicznej tradycji mitycznej z współczesną Atenom V wieku p.n.e. ideologią państwową i obywatelską. Dominujący problem dramatu stanowi kwestia obywatelstwa i dziedziczenia, nader istotna w codziennym życiu ateńskiej polis , o czym świadczą chociażby zachowane mowy sądowe. Postacią, wokół której skupia się problematyka, jest tytułowy Ion, z jednej strony - pozornie - traktowany jako nieprawy syn obcego władcy Aten, Ksutosa, z drugiej zaś - rzeczywiście - jako pełnoprawny potomek starożytnej dynastii władców królów ateńskich. Tę właśnie - pozorną - ambiwalencję tytułowego bohatera autor traktuje jako źródło konfliktu w Ionie , intepretowanego tu jako problematyzacja i następnie, przez swoje szczęśliwe rozwiązanie (uznawane nieraz za tragikomiczne lub melodramatyczne), legitymizacja wartości składających się na ideologię obywatelską klasycznych Aten

Thaddaeus Zieliński in the eyes of a a modern hellenist

The paper is an attempt to assess — in an avowedly subjective manner — the significance of the work of Thaddaeus Zieliński, the most eminent Polish classicist, for the present-day studies of ancient Greek literature and culture. Taking into account the immense impact of much of Zieliński’s contributions, and their unageing influence over many classical studies topics (Greek comedy, tragedy, Homer), the discussion touches also the more controversial issues related to the works of this great scholar

The rhetoric of Simon's adversary (Lysias 3)

Negation and trivialization — these two chief objectives of the defense in Lys. 3, and, in fact, chief objectives of any defense whatsoever, are achieved in the speech firstly and foremostly through contrasting ethopoiiai. The speaker rebuts the claims of the plaintiff, arguing from probability, that unlike his adversary, he is not mad, and only a madman would be capable of doing the deeds he is being accused of. The speaker trivializes the incident under trial as unworthy of prosecution, unless of course, the prosecutor is a sycophant — like Simon. Underlying these is yet another tendency, conveyed through Simon’s hubristic ethopoiia. This tendency is voiced out in a theoretical treatise on composing successful speeches, claiming the authorship of Aristotle himself. Its argument is: “[…] it seems to me that it comes close to no injustice at all, whenever one is subject to the mistreatment by which he himself abused others, as for example, if someone batters (αἰκίσαιτο) one who is accustomed to assault others with hybris (ὑβρίζειν)” (Rhet. 1373a). Whatever befell Simon, he certainly had it coming

Vindictive prosecution in classical Athens : On some recent theories

The Attic orators show that revenge could be an admitted and legitimate motive on the part of a prosecutor, and that such a personal agenda might be felt and portrayed not as contradictory to the impersonal rule of law but as a partner to it

Patterns of revenge in Greek tragedy: liberation and deliverance

The paper discusses some peculiar narrative pattern accompanying the plots of revenge in Greek drama. Particular attention here is given to the motifs of deliverance and tyrannicide. Among the plays taken into consideration are: Euripides’ Cyclops, Electra, Heracles, the fragmentary Kresphontes, Aeschylus’ Oresteia and Sophocles’ Electra

The problem of "Stasis" in the "Oresteia"

Powszechnie interpretuje się Oresteję Ajschylosa jako historiozoficzną alegorię rozwoju sprawiedliwości ludzkiej i boskiej. Każda część trylogii miałaby obrazować którąś fazę owego rozwoju: Agamemnon - panowanie pierwotnego, plemiennego prawa krwawej zemsty, stosowanego przez Erynie; Ofiarnice - arystokratyczne pryncypia oczyszczenia, których patronem byłby Apollon; wreszcie Eumenidy - powstanie demokratycznej i praworządnej p o lis pod opieką Ateny. Ten ostatni akt, traktowany zgodnie jak o tryumf cywilizacji, miałby usuwać w cień wszelkie sprzeczności i okrucieństwa towarzyszące poprzednim etapom. Niniejszy tekst jest próbą przedstawienia odmiennej interpretacji trylogii Ajschylosa, próbą dotarcia do jej recepcji w klasycznych Atenach. Trudno wyobrazić sobie, że zgromadzeni w Teatrze Dionizosa Grecy interpretowali Orestesję w duchu nowożytnych, historiozoficznych koncepcji, wspierających się z resztą na wątłych podstawach teoretycznych. Chaotyczna przemoc, morderstwa w obrębie rodziny, odwrócenie panujących stosunków społecznych, skażenie religii zbrodniami i inne transgresje przedstawione w Agamemnonie i w Oftarnicach - wszystko to w mentalności starożytnych Greków kojarzono ze stanem politycznego kryzysu, znanym jako stasis. Do tej właśnie stasis kilkakrotnie nawiązuje też tekst trylogii. Tryumf Areopagu i Aten w Eumenidach byłby tym samym rozumiany nie tyle jak o alegoria ostatecznego etapu ewolucji cywilizacji i ludzkości, ile jak o odbudowa zburzonego ładu, przywrócenie właściwych mentalności greckiej stosunków społecznych i religijnych

Activity of Arylsulphatase in Soil Contaminated with Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Abstract An experiment has been performed to deter-mine the activity of arylsulphatase in soil submitted to pressure of four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: naphthalene, phenanthrene, anthracene, and pyrene, in the amount of: 0, 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 mg kg−1 dm of soil. Soil samples were also applied some organic sub-stances, such as: cellulose, sucrose, and compost, in the amount of 0 and 9 g kg−1 dm of soil. The experiment was run under laboratory conditions. It was established on soil which belonged to loamy sand. The soil resis-tance (RS) and resilience (RL) indices were computed. It has been discovered that the PAHs stimulated arylsulphatase activity, with anthracene raising the ac-tivity of the enzyme to the highest degree. The activity of arysulphatase depended significantly on the dose of a PAH, duration of pressure, and type of organic sub-stances added to soil. The highest resistance (RS) was determined in soil exposed to phenanthrene, and the lowest one—in soil polluted with pyrene. Low values of the RL index prove that polycyclic aromatic hydro-carbons cause lasting disorders in the activity of arylsulphatase

Translation algorithms for graph covers

Graph covers are a way to describe continuous maps (and homeomorphisms) of the Cantor set, more generally than e.g.\ Bratteli-Vershik systems. Every continuous map on a zero-dimensional compact set can be expressed by a graph cover (e.g.\ non-minimality or aperiodicty are no restrictions). We give a survey on the construction, properties and some special cases of graph covers

Effect of unilateral, intraovarian infusions of bacteria on ovarian morphology in gilts

The aim of this study was to investigate whether unilateral, intraovarian infusions of bacteria might have induced morphological changes in the contralateral ovary. Eleven sexually matured gilts with controlled estrous cycle were used. The animals were randomly divided into two groups: I (Gr. I, treated; n = 4), and II (Gr. II, control; n = 7). In Gr. I, 1 ml of bacterial suspension (103 colony forming units/ml of saline of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Corynebacterium pyogenes, in proportion 1:1:1) was infused into the hilus of one ovary from the 15th to the 19th day of the estrous cycle. At the same time, 1 ml of saline was infused into the hilus of the contralateral ovary and into both ovaries of the control gilts. On the 7th day of the next cycle, the ovaries were dissected out. There were no significant differences in the number of follicles and corpora lutea (CL) as well as in weight and size between the bacteria-infused, contralateral and control ovaries. The microscopic observations of the bacteria-infused ovaries revealed the presence of focal infiltrations of neutrophils in the softened stroma, especially around dilated blood vessels filled with erythrocytes. In the contralateral ovaries, the number of regularly distributed neutrophils in the softened stroma was greater than that found in the bacteria-treated ovaries. CL of the bacteria-infused ovaries had more numerous, dilated blood vessels than CL observed in the contralateral gonads. More neutrophils were found in CL of both ovaries in Gr. I as compared to those observed in Gr. II. In Gr. II, single neutrophils were found also in the stroma where the tip of the cannula was inserted. This study revealed that in gilts, unilateral, intraovarian administration of bacteria did not change the number of ovarian structures, the weight and size of the bacteria-infused and contralateral ovary, but induced inflammatory changes in both ovaries